Big Stage Energy: Never Settle for Less Than You Deserve
There is something powerful about putting yourself in rooms where you can feel the energy. Rooms filled with people who are building, growing, stretching, questioning and imagining what might be next.
And for once, I got to simply enjoy the content.
I listened. I laughed. I took notes. I met some incredible people. And I watched other speakers do what I usually do: take the stage, share an idea and create an experience for the audience.
Sometimes growth requires being willing to become the student again.
The Card I Needed
On the last day of the conference, there was a simple activity. Pick a card any card and I selected a card that began with these words:
“Never settle for less than you deserve.”
Now THAT will get my attention.
The card went on to remind me that the heart often whispers truths and dreams that the mind may not fully understand. The mind can be loud. It questions. It analyzes. It creates all kinds of reasons why we should stay exactly where we are.
But somewhere underneath all that noise is often a quieter voice saying:
There is more.
That message felt especially relevant sitting at a conference where I had spent several days thinking about my own next level.
Not because I am unhappy with where I am.
Quite the opposite.
I am proud of the stages I have stood on. I am proud of the career successes I have built. And I am grateful for every opportunity that has brought me here.
But gratitude and ambition can live in the same house.
You can appreciate where you are and still believe there is more available to you.
What Are You Settling For?
This is where the message connects so strongly to what I teach through The Negotiator’s Mindset™.
Negotiation is not only what happens when we sit across from another person and ask for something.
Negotiation happens anytime we are trying to move from what is to what could be.
And sometimes the person sitting across the table from you is you.
Are you settling for the opportunity because it is comfortable?
Are you settling for being good when you know you could become exceptional?
Are you talking yourself out of the room before anyone else has had the chance to invite you in?
Are you listening to the loudest voice or the wisest one?
That card reminded me that I am still the author of what comes next.
So I left eWomenNetwork with great connections, shared my QR code so many times and gathered new ideas and a renewed commitment to keep investing in my craft.
Because big stage energy isn’t just about getting on a bigger stage.
It is about becoming the person who is ready when the bigger stage appears.
Never settle for less than you deserve. And maybe, more importantly, never settle for less than who you know you can become.
